Govt struggles to find economic wizards

ISLAMABAD - While chief economist Dr Jaffer Qamar has resigned from his official duties, the government is facing difficulty in finding his replacement due to 'shortage of qualified economists in the country. The country does not has qualified economists in the country and those who are capable are not willing to work in Pakistan owing to less salary packages and prefer to work in foreign institutions, a senior official of the Gilanis government told TheNation on the condition of anonymity. The process of appointing new economist would start in the next few days, he added. However, he was not sure how much time this process would take and said the government had taken long time to bring Dr Jaffar Qamar as chief economists in the country. He said our economists like to work in lending institutions including World Bank, Asian Development Bank and IMF and others owing to hefty packages, which we could not offer, he added. He was of the view that a basic reason behind shortage of non-qualified economists is our educational system, as our universities do not produce good economists. Chief economist of the government Dr Jaffar Qamar had resigned on Wednesday due to personal reasons. The govt faced another jolt after the resignation of State Bank of Pakistan Governor Shahid Hafeez Kardar due to his policy differences with the govt officials.